6 GOP senators help unemployment bill out of gate

New York Times

Published 6:30 pm, Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Washington --

A Democratic push to extend unemployment benefits that have expired squeaked past a Republican filibuster Tuesday, setting off intense negotiations to find a way to pay for the program and win over a skeptical House leadership.

The Senate's 60-37 vote to take up a three-month extension of benefits passed with no room to spare, and some of the six Republicans who voted yes made clear they want the cost of the extension set off by cuts elsewhere in the budget.

Still, it was the rarest of Washington moments, a genuine surprise.

"It was in the balance till the very last minute," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., an author of the measure with Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev.

President Obama, flanked by unemployed Americans as he spoke in the East Room of the White House, tried to keep up the pressure, first on the Senate to pass the bill and then on the House.

"We've got to get this across the finish line without obstruction or delay," he said, even as he praised the surprise outcome.

But House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio made clear he would exact a price for consideration in the House, saying that not only would an extension of expired benefits have to be paid for, but that it must also be tied to Republican priorities, such as building the Keystone XL oil pipeline, expanding exemptions from the Affordable Care Act and opening energy exploration on federal land.

"One month ago I personally told the White House that another extension of temporary emergency unemployment benefits should not only be paid for but include something to help put people back to work," Boehner said after the Senate vote.

Conservative Republicans remained resolute in opposition, contending that issuing emergency unemployment checks would only discourage job seekers. But five Republicans beside Heller sided with Democrats to take up the extension: Rob Portman of Ohio, Dan Coats of Indiana, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Collins said she spoke at length with the president Monday. She suggested that after a year, benefits should be linked to enrollment in job-training programs, which she said Obama was open to.